Then, bloated and indescribable masses of flesh began to seep laboriously from the ground and the walls, little by little, submerging the floor in front of him.

The shell of the vagrant, the corpse of the rat-man, and even the flesh and blood splattered by bullets—all of it was enveloped by this mass of flesh.

The flesh squirmed, and from time to time, a grotesque face would slowly glide beneath the membrane, as if the flesh were chewing on something.

After a long while, the flesh receded, and all the monsters and human shells on the ground had vanished without a trace.

Even the bullet marks that had just appeared on the ground were now completely restored.

This nightmarish scene left Henry Bennett standing frozen in place, unresponsive for a long time.

“Our city is alive.”

A faint sense of detachment and helplessness lingered in the smile on Grace Cooper’s face: “It has its own will, even a body. Its body is this city itself.”

“So, you need its permission to continue living here.”

“And now, it has started to notice you…”

“……”

At that moment, the expression on Henry Bennett’s face completely froze, as if some overwhelming force had instantly dragged him down to the deepest layer of the nightmare.

His gaze drifted outward, and he saw the dim walls of the subway station, saw everything around him seeming to melt—including the rusted subway tracks and the brightly colored graffiti on the walls.

His head spun slightly, and his vision seemed to pierce through the subway station, seeing the city full of neon lights and vehicles.

He saw buildings suddenly transform into bloated, fleshy monsters.

He saw enormous tentacles intertwining to form the city’s roads and elevated tracks.

He saw numb bodies, like walking corpses, quietly standing on the streets like robots awaiting orders.

The entire city was a writhing, living organism. Everything he saw was merely its organs and blood vessels, squirming and operating, forming this indescribably vast lifeform…

He could even feel the gaze of this lifeform upon him, piercing straight into the depths of his mind…

……

The indescribable shock left Henry Bennett’s mind blank for a long time.

So this was what Grace Cooper wanted to show him—this was the “him” she wanted him to meet.

Not long ago, he had still doubted whether the monsters around him were real. Just moments before, he had tried to find evidence on the rat-man that this was all just his hallucination, or some kind of elaborate fake model.

But only now did he realize how naïve he had been.

Even the city he lived in was a gigantic, bloated monster…

And he had actually doubted everything else…

Chapter 8: The Pulsating City

The subway station was only about a kilometer from the street where Henry Bennett’s home was located, but they had to pass through a bustling plaza. It was already late, but there were still six or seven students, looking like middle schoolers, sitting in small groups on the railings at the edge of the plaza. They had tied their school uniforms around their waists; some had strikingly white-dyed hair, some wore oversized silver earrings, and some had their pant legs rolled up high, revealing dense tattoos.

They shared cigarettes among themselves, passed around bottles of alcohol, and when they saw Henry Bennett and Grace Cooper approaching, they all stopped their rowdy laughter in unison, turning to stare at them expressionlessly.

Neither Henry Bennett nor Grace Cooper met their eyes, slowly walking past them.

The youth of this city were all filled with anger—even adults couldn’t look them in the eye casually, or it would easily spark unnecessary conflict.

After they had walked some distance away, mocking laughter and whistles sounded behind them, as if those youths were announcing their victory.

Grace Cooper accompanied the seemingly dazed and lost Henry Bennett out of the subway station, quietly staying by his side, making no attempt to interrupt the surging fear and twisted feelings within him.

Only after they had left those angry, combative youths far behind did she slowly take out a cigarette, light it, and glance gently at Henry Bennett.

Henry Bennett, who didn’t smoke, instinctively reached out when he saw the cigarette, but after lighting it, Grace Cooper directly handed it over, stuffing it into his mouth.

The menthol cigarette made Henry Bennett cough, but his numb mind seemed to start working again.

“What is all this?”

“……”

His voice was hoarse as he asked the vague question.

“Just as you saw.”

Grace Cooper said softly, “We live in a living city. Its will is watching us at every moment!”

“Some say we were dragged into this false and insane world by a powerful, indescribable lifeform. It has everything familiar from our memories, but in essence, it is alive.”

“Others say our world was invaded by this unknown lifeform, and it devoured our city.”

“People believe both theories, and each has found their own evidence. But we believe the former, so we call ourselves Outsiders.”

“At least, if we understand it this way, our hometown still exists—it’s just that we can’t go back.”

“……”

Henry Bennett didn’t understand why Grace Cooper had to point out these two theories. In his view, no matter the reason, it didn’t change the mad and terrifying reality.